Stanford Magazine (May/June 2007) asks, What’s the next step in human evolution?

Luigi “Luca” Cavalli-Sforza, professor emeritus of genetics, is a pioneer in “genetic geography,” a field that uses DNA to help understand human migration throughout history.

…A major genetic change which started already some centuries ago, with the navigation of the oceans, and is becoming faster now, is globalization. This is having major genetic consequences. It will bring back greater unity of the species, by diluting and eventually canceling differences among ethnic groups existing today, that are largely if not exclusively the consequence of adaptation to environments that differ most climatically to which modern humans spread in the last 50,000 years…

Chickens are where it’s at right now as far as artist Mary Sprague is concerned.

The human figure—I’ve never been able to identify with it. I don’t do drawings of humans because they don’t tell you the truth. They give you all the details and information, but you’re just drawing about what genes a person inherited.

Tags: genetics, genes, dna, art, mary sprague, quotes

On March 14, 2007, Dr. Francis Collins, Director of the National Human Genome Research Institute, testified before the House of Representatives Committee on Ways and Means. Here’s an excerpt of his testimony entitled, The Threat of Genetic Discrimination to the Promise of Personalized Medicine (pdf):

As you can see, the science of genomic medicine is rocketing forward. But fear of genetic discrimination threatens to slow both the advance of such groundbreaking biomedical research and the integration of the fruits of that research into our nation’s health care. If individuals continue to worry that they will be denied health insurance or refused employment because they have a predisposition to a particular disease, they may forego genetic testing that could help guide medical professionals to lessen their risk, simply because the test identifies them as having such a predisposition. This is about all of us, as there are no perfect specimens at the DNA level; each one of us carries numerous gene variants that increase our risk of developing one disease or another. Therefore, each one of us is at risk for genetic discrimination.

Tags: genetic discrimination, francis collins, nhgri, human genome, genome, genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, health care, healthcare, health insurance, medicine

In Joan Rothschild’s The Dream of the Perfect Child, she looks at how prenatal testing has changed the way families experience pregnancy and public perception of disability. About three decades ago, ultrasound, amniocentesis, and other prenatal tests became a routine part of a pregnant woman’s prenatal care. Since then, parents have agonized before, during, and after the tests.

Today, we argue, women have “choice.” They need not give birth to a child with Down syndrome. Women can choose prenatal diagnosis and terminate the pregnancy if the tests are positive. But fear still motivates. Attitudes toward children with Down syndrome or other birth defects have little changed in the intervening decades. Only the ability to act and the timing of our actions have changed.

Ravgen is offering one more means of prenatal testing that is much less invasive to both the pregnant mother and her unborn child since it analyzes fetal DNA in maternal blood; only a blood draw is required. But the impact of making prenatal testing even easier than before means that more of us will be under pressure to find out all we can about our babies and to to make sure our children are as perfect as we can make them. On the other hand, it also means that parents and healthcare providers can be better prepared to handle a child with special needs once he or she is born.

Yesterday, I had the chance to talk to Ravgen Chairman and CEO Dr. Ravinder Dhallan about their technology and his vision for its use. One of the first things I asked about was a feature of Ravgen (video) that aired on WUSA Channel 9 Washington DC. In it, Ravgen staff Sarah Emche talked about the “incredible peace of mind” the test gave her family during each of her two pregnancies. That struck me as an overstatement considering all of the various congenital defects that are possible and for which no prenatal tests exist.

While Dr. Dhallan agrees, he also says that prenatal tests like Ravgen’s are just extra tools to be used in prenatal diagnosis. Genetic testing won’t ever replace technologies like ultrasound that’s capable of diagnosing structural abnormalities in the fetus. However, there is great promise for prenatal tests that can analyze specific genetic loci and mutations. The Ravgen test is currently limited to detecting Down’s syndrome in which there is an extra chromosome 21, but theoretically it could be adapted to identify other types of genetic variations as well.

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Is it just me? Or does everyone come across genetics, genes, and DNA almost everywhere?

From Madeleine Albright’s memoir, Madam Secretary:

As the twenty-first century began, the world was fascinated by breakthroughs in engineering and research–among them the cloning of sheep, the mapping of DNA, the development of new medicines, and digital technology. I have no quarrel with better living through science, but I do not believe it is the best gauge for measuring progress. A more meaningful yardstick is the spread of democracy. As Secretary of State I found that if I ran down the list of challenges faced by the world–from terrorism and war to poverty and pollution–democracy was the surest path to progress.

Tags: madeleine albright, quotes, genetics, genes, genome, dna, diseases, illness, health, medicine, democracy

“The cloning of humans is on most of the lists of things to worry about from science, along with behavior control, genetic engineering, transplanted heads, computer poetry and the unrestrained growth of plastic flowers.”

~Lewis Thomas (November 25, 1913 - December 3, 1993) was a physician, poet, etymologist, essayist, administrator, educator, policy advisor, and researcher.

From Quotations Book via Vecosys

NB: If you want to worry some more, check out the first issue of Gene Genie, a blog carnival of genes and gene-related diseases.

Tags: genetics, genes, genome, dna, diseases, illness, health, quotes, quotations, lewis thomas

From a ComingSoon.net interview of Denzel Washington about his latest movie, Deja Vu.

Tony [Scott, the director] was saying look, we want to steep this in facts about surveillance and what it’s capable of and pushing that envelope and a lot of what we’re doing and what you see, they are capable of, I don’t know about the multi-angles and all of that, but we do have the technology, as you all know we Google earth, you look at somebody’s house. We do have the technology to look through somebody’s house. They use it in Baghdad as we speak, or in Iraq, where you see a “heat signature.” Where it’s going now or has already gone, I don’t know is that by gathering your genetic information, DNA and all that type of information, they can identify you as opposed to me.

Good to know that even movie stars have a firm grasp on the uniqueness of our DNA.

Technorati Tags: denzel washington, deja vu, movies, genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, quotes

Oops. In my book review, I forgot to quote my favorite bit of Michael Crichton’s book, Next.

Op-Ed Commentary from the New York Times:

A “SOCIABILITY GENE”? WHEN WILL THIS NONSENSE STOP?

Columbia University researchers now claim to have found a sociability gene. What’s next? The shyness gene? The reclusive gene? The monastic gene? How about the get-off-my-back gene?

In truth, researchers are taking advantage of the public’s lack of knowledge about how genes actually operate. No single gene controls any behavioral trait. Unfortunately, the public doesn’t know that. They think there’s a gene for eye color, for height, and for hair curliness, so why not one for sociability? Geneticists will not speak out. They all sit on the boards of private companies, and are in a race to identify genes they can patent for their own profit.

Will this ever stop? Evidently not.

I could almost hear Michael Crichton chuckling to himself as he wrote Next. He obviously had quite a lot of fun! And there were a few laugh out loud moments in the book.

This particular passage reminded me of a post I wrote early this year on Dermagenetics and DNA-selected products.

Technorati Tags: michael crichton, crichton, next, biotech, biotechnology, genomics, genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, quotes, next, books

Here’s another quote from Susan Blackmore’s response to The Edge World Question Center 2006 question of the year: What is your dangerous idea?

Everything is pointless

…each person is unique even if that uniqueness is explained by their particular combination of genes, memes and environment, rather than by an inner conscious self who is the fount of creativity.

Technorati Tags: genetics, genes, dna, diseases, illness, health, susan blackmore

From Wired:

New genes demand expression — third eye.
~ Science fiction writer Greg Bear

via Thought Experiments
More short stories but in 55 words at 55 Fiction.

Technorati Tags: genetics, genes, dna, quotes, greg bear, short stories, stories